Barbara Walters, the esteemed American broadcast journalist, best-selling author, and iconic
TV personality, spent 25 years conducting interviews for 20/20.
After retiring from primetime, she made her way to daytime television with The View.
But then in 2014, Walters made the difficult decision to leave the show behind.
It was hard for audiences to imagine that actually happening.
Would there really come a day when you'd turn on your television and not see Walters' face?
As it turns out, yes, that's exactly what happened.
Here's what she's been up to.
On the Friday of her final week on The View,
Walters awoke extra early for an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America to discuss her
retirement plans.
The following Monday, she’d finally get to fully experience her sweet new lifestyle.
She told ABC News: "I'm going to lounge in bed until 3 in the
afternoon.
[...] I have always had a schedule.
I've always had deadlines.
I've always had things to do."
She went on to say how she was greatly looking forward to having "nothing" going on.
As a woman who worked so hard for so long, her days of lounging around and keeping her
schedule empty naturally didn't last forever.
You may not see Walters very much these days,
but she's still only partially retired.
Just as she continued to star on The View after stepping away from 20/20, Walters' career
is simply on the back burner, and she remained under contract with ABC post-retirement.
In a 2014 interview with the New York Post, Walters said:
"I'm not looking for another job, but there are other things I might want to do.
Maybe not necessarily at all.
But I like that process of creating."
While Walters wasn't planning a full retirement, she did announce that she would be stepping
away from ABC's 10 Most Fascinating People.
Fast-forward to 2015 and it became obvious that her decision didn't stick.
She said in an announcement: "I know we said last year was our last, but
there are just too many fascinating people out there [...] and you never pass up the
opportunity to interview Oprah, Neil [Patrick Harris], Chelsea [Handler], or Scarlett [Johansson]."
And of course, who could possibly do the job better than Barbara Walters?
"Be so good…just work so hard that whatever it is you become invaluable."
In November 2016, Radar Online reported that
Walters hadn't been photographed in public for over 130 days, since the premier of Woody
Allen's movie Cafe Society on July 13.
While 130 days sounds like a long time, that number has grown exponentially.
As of the making of this video, Walters still hasn't been seen, or photographed, in public.
She's also been abnormally quiet.
In October 2017, a video of Walters interviewing Corey Feldman on a 2013 episode of The View
resurfaced.
Feldman was detailing abuse experienced at the hands of powerful men in Hollywood.
Knowing what we now know about Harvey Weinstein and other members of Hollywood's elite, the
interview is painful to watch.
Walters rebuts Feldman's claims and even tells him:
"You're damaging an entire industry - I'm sorry to interrupt you, but it's a very important
serious topic."
Some felt Walters should publicly apologize to Feldman, but Walters was silent on social
media even before the clip made its rounds.
Walters generally isn't one to publicize her health struggles.
When speaking at the Breast Cancer Research Symposium and Awards luncheon in October 2014,
the then-85-year-old opened up about her personal connection to the disease.
"I discovered a small lump in my own breast… and under the expert care of Dr. Larry Norton
I had a lumpectomy."
Walters said she hadn't discussed it publicly, up until this point, as she felt there was
no reason to.
"I told few people and I am fine and no recurrence."
In 2010, Walters also underwent heart surgery.
Although she did announce her upcoming surgery plans on The View, she kept her condition
private for quite some time.
So in September 2017, when TMZ reported that Walters had become forgetful, fearful of falling,
and isolated, people were concerned.
But according to Walters' PR rep Cindi Berger, it isn't true.
When speaking with Fox News, Berger said: "I see Barbara every 2-3 weeks and she's fine.
I'm actually seeing her next week for tea."
Perhaps Walters is simply enjoying her down time, and after a lifetime of making public
appearances, just isn't feeling it anymore.
Berger didn't provide any explanation regarding what Walters has been up to, but she definitely
made one thing crystal clear: Barbara Walters is alive and well.
Despite her recent reclusiveness, Waters is
still very much a part of a big project.
After donating a generous $15 million for the building of a campus center at her alma
mater Sarah Lawrence College, the students, faculty, and staff wanted a way to thank her
properly for the donation.
"We have only words but with your gift our thanks will be shown in action.
.Your legacy will live In manifold memories and experiences."
At the outset of 2018, Sarah Lawrence College began building the $35 million "Barbara Walters
Campus Center."
Not only will the center bear her name, but it will also feature the "Barbara Walters
Gallery" of fine art, as well as "the Barbara Walters Archives and Reading Room."
Although Walters was unable to attend the groundbreaking ceremony, the 34,800 square
foot center is expected to open in fall 2019.
Hopefully Walters will make an appearance for the ribbon cutting.